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Bad HSBC

11,362 UK jobs cut. 15,107 added in India.

HSBC’s own filings, which UK law requires it to publish, show it employed 43,987 people in Britain in 2014 and 32,625 in 2025. Over the same years its workforce in India grew from 31,303 to 46,410. Since 2021, HSBC has employed more people in India than in the UK.

United Kingdom

−11,362

jobs, -26% · from 43,987 to 32,625

India

+15,107

jobs, +48% · from 31,303 to 46,410

Average full-time-equivalent staff, 2014 vs 2025, from HSBC Holdings plc’s country-by-country reporting.

The lines crossed in 2021.

Year by year, HSBC’s British workforce shrank while its Indian workforce grew. In 2021 HSBC employed 38,589 people in India and 36,536 in the UK, and the gap has widened every year since.

United Kingdom India
25k30k35k40k45k50k2014201520162017201820192020202120222023202420252021: India overtakes the UKIndia 46,410UK 32,625
2014UK43,987India31,303
2015UK44,559India33,062
2016UK42,352India34,237
2017UK40,593India37,284
2018UK39,374India37,287
2019UK40,257India39,826
2020UK40,017India39,792
2021UK36,536India38,589
2022UK33,675India38,230
2023UK33,482India41,178
2024UK33,286India43,524
2025UK32,625India46,410
Average full-time-equivalent employees. The scale starts at 25,000 to show the change clearly. Source: HSBC Holdings plc country-by-country reporting, 2014–2025.
Show the numbers as a table
HSBC average full-time staff, UK and India
YearUKIndiaHSBC worldwide
201443,98731,303256,286
201544,55933,062258,954
201642,35234,237245,526
201740,59337,284233,126
201839,37437,287231,407
201940,25739,826237,503
202040,01739,792231,834
202136,53638,589223,042
202233,67538,230218,890
202333,48241,178221,211
202433,28643,524215,100
202532,62546,410211,414

12% → 22%

India’s share of HSBC’s entire global workforce, 2014 to 2025.

17% → 15%

The UK’s share over the same period.

−44,872

HSBC staff worldwide (-18%), from 256,286 to 211,414. India grew anyway.

More tax to India than Britain. 8 years out of 12.

$3.86bn

Corporation tax paid in the UK, 2014–2025

$5.03bn

Corporation tax paid in India over the same 12 years

$1m

UK corporation tax paid in 2020, the year HSBC paid $484m in India

United Kingdom India
$0m$200m$400m$600m$800m2014201520162017201820192020202120222023202420252020: UK $1mIndia $484m
2014UK$228mIndia$288m
2015UK$124mIndia$284m
2016UK$145mIndia$315m
2017UK$218mIndia$297m
2018UK$169mIndia$385m
2019UK$154mIndia$445m
2020UK$1mIndia$484m
2021UK$432mIndia$404m
2022UK$380mIndia$497m
2023UK$579mIndia$576m
2024UK$667mIndia$522m
2025UK$761mIndia$533m
Corporation tax paid in cash, US$ millions. The UK figure excludes the UK bank levy and other taxes. Source: HSBC Holdings plc country-by-country reporting, 2014–2025.
Show the numbers as a table
Corporation tax paid by HSBC, UK and India (US$m)
YearUKIndia
2014$228m$288m
2015$124m$284m
2016$145m$315m
2017$218m$297m
2018$169m$385m
2019$154m$445m
2020$1m$484m
2021$432m$404m
2022$380m$497m
2023$579m$576m
2024$667m$522m
2025$761m$533m

The UK figure covers every HSBC company that pays tax in Britain, including HSBC UK Bank plc, the high-street bank. On its own, HSBC UK Bank plc made a profit before tax of $6.56bn in 2024 and $6.53bn in 2025. In the same years, all HSBC companies in the UK together paid $667m and $761m in UK corporation tax.

HSBC’s filings for 2024 and 2025 carry the same footnote against the UK: “The cash tax liability for this period was reduced by the utilisation of tax losses which were incurred in prior periods.”

Read these numbers fairly. They are corporation tax paid in cash, so they depend on timing, past losses and each country’s rules. The UK figure excludes the UK bank levy, employer National Insurance and other taxes HSBC pays. Profits and taxes in a given country are not a simple tax rate, and we don’t present them as one.

$232.8bn

HSBC’s group profit before tax across all countries, 2014–2025, over the same years it cut 11,362 UK jobs. It made $32.3bn in 2024 and $29.9bn in 2025.

How the jobs went. In order.

  1. October 2003

    4,000 UK processing and call-centre jobs to Asia

    HSBC announced about 4,000 UK processing and call-centre jobs would move to India, Malaysia and China over two and a half years, closing all four of its UK administrative processing centres. It had already moved 3,000 jobs overseas. The Unifi union called it “profit before people”.

  2. June 2015

    Up to 8,000 UK jobs, one in six

    HSBC confirmed it would cut 7,000 to 8,000 of its roughly 48,000 UK jobs as part of a global plan to cut up to 25,000 roles. Unions said frontline staff were being punished for bankers’ actions.

  3. May 2016

    840 UK IT jobs moved to India, China and Poland

    HSBC said 840 UK technology roles would move abroad, around 490 of them in Sheffield and about 105 at its Tankersley data centre near Barnsley. A Sheffield MP called it “completely demeaning” that staff were asked to train their overseas replacements.

  4. January 2017

    62 branches, about 180 jobs at risk

    Another 62 branch closures were announced, with around 180 jobs at risk. HSBC said it would try to redeploy staff.

  5. February 2020

    27 branches, plus a 35,000 global job-cut plan

    HSBC announced 27 UK branch closures, with about 46 jobs at risk at ten of them. A week earlier it had unveiled plans to cut about 35,000 jobs worldwide.

  6. March 2022

    69 branches, about 400 staff affected

    HSBC said it hoped to redeploy the roughly 400 affected staff to roles within 15 miles of their homes.

  7. November 2022

    114 branches, a quarter of the network

    HSBC announced 114 closures from April 2023, leaving 327 branches. It said regular customers’ use of branches had fallen 65% in five years.

  8. Today

    23,000+ technology staff in India

    HSBC’s careers site says it has more than 23,000 technology professionals in Pune, Hyderabad and Bengaluru, delivering technology for HSBC’s businesses worldwide.

  9. October 2026

    Deep cuts reported in UK wealth

    Bloomberg, citing the Financial Times, reported HSBC planned to cut close to 70% of UK financial adviser roles and about half of management and specialist roles in its UK wealth business, linked to automation. HSBC has not confirmed the figures.

743 UK branches closed since 2015: see the branch data →

What we can’t say

HSBC does not publish how many of its staff in India work on UK customers, accounts or systems, so we can’t say how many UK roles moved there directly. The figures above show what HSBC itself reports: fewer people employed in Britain, more in India, and the tax paid in each.

The widest gender pay gap of any bank, at the time

When UK companies first had to publish gender pay gaps, in March 2018, HSBC Bank plc reported that women’s mean hourly pay was 59% lower than men’s. Bloomberg reported this as the widest gap of any bank to report up to that point.

HSBC’s own filings

12 sources
  1. Exhibit ACapital Requirements (Country-by-Country Reporting) Regulations: year ended 31 December 2025HSBC Holdings plc · hsbc.comOfficial record
  2. Exhibit BCapital Requirements (Country-by-Country Reporting) Regulations: year ended 31 December 2024HSBC Holdings plc · hsbc.comOfficial record
  3. Exhibit CCapital Requirements (Country-by-Country Reporting) Regulations: year ended 31 December 2023HSBC Holdings plc · hsbc.comOfficial record
  4. Exhibit DCapital Requirements (Country-by-Country Reporting) Regulations: year ended 31 December 2022HSBC Holdings plc · hsbc.comOfficial record
  5. Exhibit ECapital Requirements (Country-by-Country Reporting) Regulations: year ended 31 December 2021HSBC Holdings plc · hsbc.comOfficial record
  6. Exhibit FCapital Requirements (Country-by-Country Reporting) Regulations: year ended 31 December 2020HSBC Holdings plc · hsbc.comOfficial record
  7. Exhibit GCapital Requirements (Country-by-Country Reporting) Regulations: year ended 31 December 2019HSBC Holdings plc · hsbc.comOfficial record
  8. Exhibit HCapital Requirements (Country-by-Country Reporting) Regulations: year ended 31 December 2018HSBC Holdings plc · hsbc.comOfficial record
  9. Exhibit ICapital Requirements (Country-by-Country Reporting) Regulations: year ended 31 December 2017HSBC Holdings plc · hsbc.comOfficial record
  10. Exhibit JCapital Requirements (Country-by-Country Reporting) Regulations: year ended 31 December 2016HSBC Holdings plc · hsbc.comOfficial record
  11. Exhibit KCapital Requirements (Country-by-Country Reporting) Regulations: year ended 31 December 2015HSBC Holdings plc · hsbc.comOfficial record
  12. Exhibit LCapital Requirements (Country-by-Country Reporting) Regulations: year ended 31 December 2014HSBC Holdings plc · hsbc.comOfficial record

Reporting

14 sources
  1. Exhibit A4,000 banking jobs go to IndiaManagement Issues · 17 October 2003 · management-issues.com
  2. Exhibit BHSBC axes up to 8,000 UK jobsITV News · 9 June 2015 · itv.com
  3. Exhibit CFrontline staff are being punished for bankers’ actionsITV News (live update) · 9 June 2015 · itv.com
  4. Exhibit DHSBC to axe 840 UK jobsThe Irish Times (Reuters) · 16 May 2016 · irishtimes.com
  5. Exhibit EHSBC axes 840 IT jobs in BritainiTnews (Reuters) · May 2016 · itnews.com.au
  6. Exhibit FHSBC ‘completely demeaning’ axed workers over training foreign replacements: Sheffield MPSheffield Telegraph · 2016 · sheffieldtelegraph.co.uk
  7. Exhibit GHSBC signals end of UK branch closure programme by shutting another 62 branchesInternational Business Times · 24 January 2017 · ibtimes.co.uk
  8. Exhibit HAll the HSBC branches that are set to closeJersey Evening Post (PA) · 25 February 2020 · jerseyeveningpost.com
  9. Exhibit IHSBC to shut 69 bank branches with 400 jobs affectedYahoo News (PA) · March 2022 · news.yahoo.com
  10. Exhibit JHSBC UK announces branch network plans for 2023HSBC UK · 30 November 2022 · about.hsbc.co.ukOfficial record
  11. Exhibit KTechnology in IndiaHSBC Careers · hsbc.comOfficial record
  12. Exhibit LHSBC Plans Deep Job Cuts in UK Wealth Management Business (FT report)Bloomberg · 7 October 2026 · bloomberg.com
  13. Exhibit MHSBC reportedly plans widespread UK wealth job cuts in major AI pushFinTech Futures · October 2026 · fintechfutures.com
  14. Exhibit NHSBC pays UK women 59% less than men, widest gap so farBloomberg via American Banker · 15 March 2018 · americanbanker.com